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[Tier 3] ATEEZ - Illusion (Patreon)

Published:
2023-07-27 00:47:47
Imported:
2026-06
Tags:

Content

Hello Illusion, what illusion? Who knows at this point.

BUT this was another great track, leading nicely into the lighter musical theme that was hinted in the first track, Utopia, and adding some nice twists and turns here and there that makes just the right amount of differences to make it a compelling listen!

We do have an idea of where this particular album is headed (and we are all in for it) but this is ATEEZ, and one simply cannot be certain about anything.

This was also the song that we saw the most gifs/pics on the internet when searching ATEEZ (or perhaps the music video imagery repeats who knows) with the floating pirate ship in a pinkish orange sky, so that was nice to see as well!

Either way, enough said, the video speaks for itself!

Enjoy :D

Comments

Briana

“HAKUNA MATATA YA!”

Nikole

If I recall correctly, the lore here is that they're under the influence of dust that causes hallucinations (the dust a weapon used to capture/control). The song sounds light and fun, but it's about being trapped in the illusion their own dreaming minds have created. The first clue is given in the very beginning when it says "from somewhere someone is talking to me", then we roll into the description of the paradise within this dream... but when we get to the chorus, we hear "let me free" (as if from a distance). So all through the song, it's a struggle between the dreaming mind that enjoys the illusion ("don't wake me up", "party all night long") and the subconscious mind that knows they are trapped ("let me free"). As you listen through their catalog, you'll notice recurring themes in the lyrics. Two of the big ones are "open your eyes" and "wake up". These are obviously relevant to this song, and will carry into 'Crescent' as well as 'Wave' (the end teaser here leads directly into the MV for 'Wave'). My interpretation of the overall MV theme is that Peter Pan and the Lost Boys have hijacked the Jolly Roger. Captain Hongjoong has already referenced feeling like Peter Pan at least once (see the intro of 'Wonderland'), so I feel like it makes sense to use this for the MV. It gives us that happy-go-lucky visual, while also allowing us to think about the Peter Pan story and realize it has a seriously dark undertone to it as well. This was the first song I heard by them (I think) that uses autotune like this, and honestly I hated it at first. Since that time, I've realized that not only is autotune often an artistic choice... but also that it actually FITS within the theme/lore of this song because it's another way for us to see just how distorted things are in the illusion compared to reality.

J

In case it has not been mentioned, Ateez auditions for each line in each song. They may be written with certain people in mind, but they all sing and record the whole thing, and then Eden-ary chooses whoever performed each line the best or whose vocal timbre suits each section the best. That's why it is sometimes unexpected who get the most lines. Early on, Wooyoung and Yeosang were quite insecure about singing, and they both have very distinctive voices, so they often ended up with the fewest lines, but did a lot of the backing vocals. They have both been working on singing a great deal and taking lessons. The producers have also learned how to work more effectively with their voices, so you see them used differently in later albums as the sound of the music changes.

Nebula
>>113846866

You literally summed up what I wanted to say, thank you. ♡

Kay Popped

I'd love to get your opinion on this because I don't have the ear to hear the manipulations made, nor do I know how much of that can be used in live performances. So ATEEZ did a concert in Seoul a couple months ago, and included Illusion in the performance, as they so often do (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-Lo5O_wMN4 is cut from the official video released by the company). I usually think "if it sounds auto-tuned, go see what it sounds like when performed live" with the thought that using AT live is harder to regulate unless it's a longer-termed effect (like during an entire rap similar what you'll see during the rap-line focus during Kingdom in a few episodes) turned on for the mic. But even Yunho's vocals during sound like just vocals (he's stupidly stable all the time anyway), and I'd love to know if that's mixed in at that moment on the fly, or if it probably sounds pretty close to that as he sings it. Thoughts on how that's done or how natural it is? Thank you for this review. It's one of those iconic songs from the group, and indeed for the visuals of the video. As someone else explained, it has a dark place in their lore, and even the lyrics that sound so bright are rather dark when looked at without the video.

ACHEEZ

I cried finally seeing this live in concert. the autotune was amazing, I loved it! btw, did you see the Halateez near the end in the cave???

Nikole
>>113883756

Oh hey, it's Kay! I recognize your name from YT :) I have a hard time with pinpointing possible live AT on this because of the AT on the backing track, because those spots definitely do exist in order to keep the same "feel" to the song. That said, I'll still give my non-expert thoughts. In most cases when I'm hearing AT on the video you linked, it seems like that member stops live vocals during the AT bit, then comes back with clean vocals afterward. I'm judging this primarily by volume, because the live vocals have a louder setting in the mix than the backing track does, so when volume drops and I hear AT then the assumption is that member stopped singing and I am only hearing the backing track. San made it obvious that he wasn't singing in the AT parts by making faces and gestures during them. Mingi sounds like he's got AT on his mic. I initially heard it at the end of a rap line near the beginning (so not when he's rapping more rapidly, but when his voice starts to trail at the end of the lyric), and I heard it again during at least one of the chorus parts. Again, I'm basing my guess on volume here, because for Mingi the AT vocal I heard was the same volume as his live vocals. As far as I'm able to tell, the other members seem to have clean vocals, which might be sung over the AT backing track in some cases. This would create the "muddy" sense in my ears when I can't tell for sure if it's AT live or not, since it feels like I'm hearing both at once... it would explain that duality. I'm looking forward to any insight our experts here can offer, though! Thanks for thinking to ask them to take a look!

Handsome Sausages
>>113883756

Nikole pretty much nailed it!! But to add a bit more detail, it seems like it's a mix between 1. AR + vocal (aka layered vocals, a mix between live vocal and original recorded vocals or chorus doubling vocals) 2. Vocal + AT AR on certain syllables 3. AR only & pretend singing in certain sections So yeh, to us it didn't sound like any AT was added to the mic - it'd be nearly impossible to control it that way to have AT applied to certain words that way! It's def a control of how much original vocal track comes into the song as they sing, and how much they sing live if at all in certain sections!

Kay Popped
>>113900670

Halateez appears in silhouette at your 3:59, and a Halateez mask is on the globe at 2:07.

Kay Popped
>>113883756

Thank you both for the analysis! I wondered, because they're known for their live, stable vocals, and for being rather talented with producing vocal sounds that often seem like they've been messed with (see: Jongho a lot, but it's usually really just him being Jongho). It's good to know what's possible for them to do, because they definitely maintain the feel of the song even when it's clear they're "usually" singing live for the majority. Also hey Nikole! Great to see you here!

Nikole
>>113846866

I just realized that 'Wonderland' comes after 'Illusion', so technically Captain would not have referenced feeling like Peter Pan by this point in their catalog... but the point stands since we're looking at this from the present (and it gives a thing to look out for if someone hasn't seen/heard 'Wonderland', yet).

김수미

Fun background info about this track and Wave when this album was coming out they released both the MV for this song and Wave and it was the fans vote for which song would become the title track for the album it was a really interesting concept to have the fans vote for which song would be the title track that I really enjoyed because I’ve been a K-pop stan for over 10 years now and none of the groups I listened too/ followed had done that before.

_Dani.Lynn_
>>113846866

What I think is so interesting, adding to “Wake Up” is “Break the Wall” is used a lot too. They also used both of those lines several times in the World Series too. There is this theme through their whole lore even if it’s a different universe.

J
>>113900670

Omg WHAT?!! I've never seen anyone mention this before?! Thank you Atiny!

LunaMaras

Ateez also has a lot of dance practices that I think you should check out along with their MV's if you enjoy the dancing.